Nataliya Bregel and Maggie Connors at the opening reception for Lost and Found
Above Photo Courtesy Of : Daniel J van Ackere
"Lost and Found" opening reception
"Lost and Found" opening reception
The ladies behind "Lost and Found" share their story:
Maggie Connors &
Nataliya Bregel
FPAC Gallery.
300 Summer Street.
On Exhibit until July 1. 2011
FPAC: What is the concept behind "Lost and Found: and where did this concept stem from?
NB: Maggie and I have known each other and each other's work for some time now. Though much in our work is different, much is the same. We both have an intensive process that comes from printmaking (for Nataliya) and sculpture (for Maggie) as well as painting. Additionally we both have an involvement in drawing and mark-making throughout the painting process.
FPAC: So the "Process" of the work has been the catalyst behind the exhibition?
MC: I saw that we both seemed to spend a lot of time editing our paintings. We were working on them long enough for them to have been several paintings in the process...I see that we both use a unique process to create paintings, that develops into paintings that often become intensely layered.
FPAC: What inspires you or what do you find most interesting about each other's work?
MC: I love that Nataliya can be so particular and focuses on very specific details. She immerses herself in her two inch tall paintings and makes them become her life. At the same time she creates a completely different work along side that detailed work, using similar forms, sources and material, but applies the paint freely to map out the general position and motion of forms. In "Lost and Found," the two smallest paintings of Nataliya's are like this. It seems a bit musical to me. In the way that a note can linger and sound wonderful, even if its just part of a whole work - but its only a tiny part of this involved process.
NB: Maggie's work manages to remain open, to improvise and accept passages that unconsciously occur in her paintings. That is something that I am trying to allow more in my work. She has such a deep knowledge of the human body, that the ethereal figures in her paintings (painted completely from memory and from the imagination) are utterly convincing.
FPAC: What is the most difficult thing in the process of creating your work?
MC: the most difficult part of the process is having to leave the studio to go to work but because my work schedule in this economy is so fragmented- I'll have an hour here and there but not a six or eight hour stretch.
NB: Knowing when to stop! I constantly want to get rid of distracting, inessential elements in my paintings, after the initial elements are placed, but the challenge is to do that while still being investigative - not bound by faithfulness to details. In these multiple-frame paintings it is also sometimes hard to develop the individual frames, while still making sure the painting reads as a whole.
FPAC: Who or what is the motivation behind you as an artist?
NB: I think I have an impulse to create narratives...I love the way composing an image creates a world, and I use the process of painting to make sense of that world.
MC: I am inspired by movement of the body, my own body, gestures and postures.
FPAC: When can we expect to see more from you?
MC: I'm participating in the chain letter project at Sampson Projects in July. I'll be adding a few more works to MIFP in July as well. I will be participating in FPAC"S fall open studios third weekend of October, 2011. 15 Channel Center Street, Boston- look for details at http://maggieconnors.com
